Thursday, April 30, 2015

Patachou, one of the most cheeky voices of French music
after the war, which had owned a famous Parisian cabaret in Montmartre before
launching herself on stage, died Thursday at 96 years, surrounded his family.

Her real name was Henriette Ragon, Patachou, born June
10, 1918 in Paris, and died at her home in Neuilly (Hauts-de-Seine), announced
her son Pierre Billon who told AFP, confirming a report by France 2.

Brassens and Brel started her cabaret

This artisan girl, was first a typist and factory worker,
in 1948 she opened and managed a cabaret-restaurant in Montmartre, with her
husband Jean Billon, she quickly made a famous place of the Parisian night life.

"At Patachou" it saw the start of many artists
like Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens with which she performed "Maman,
Papa," a duet.Hugues Aufray and
Michel Sardou also performed in this nightclub of the popular song, which was
closed in the ‘70s.

Originally, Patachou, blonde with short hair, began by making
pastry, then bought a nearby local location for her cabaret-restaurant.

In a Renoir film

Supported by Maurice Chevalier, Patachou then took to the
microphone herself, with a repertoire of realistic songs (“La complainte de la
Butte”, “Gamin de Paris”) and light ditties (“le Tapin tranquille”, “Douce
Marijane”).Interpreter with a slight
warm hoarse voice, her “Bal chez Temporel” is remembered as “La Bague à Jules” is
remembered as well as “Toutes les femmes de mon mari”.

She has also performed abroad (U.S.A., Canada, Great Britain,
Brazil), as well as getting small roles in film (1954) in "French Cancan"
and Renoir's "Napoleon" by Guitry. In 1966 Patachou is back in Paris at the
tavern " La Tête de l'art" and in 1969 the restaurant of the Eiffel
Tower, before ending her singing career.From the 1980s, Patachou is seen in film and television.

The singer and
actress was promoted to Officer of the Legion of Honour and Commander of Arts
and Letters.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Betsy von Furstenberg, a glamorous German-born baroness
who made her debut in the movies and on the Broadway stage in the early 1950s
as a teenager and later reinvented herself as a television actress, writer and
philanthropist, died on April 21 at her home in Manhattan. She was 83.

The cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease, said
her son, Glyn Vincent.

Born in a castle in Westphalia, Ms. von Furstenberg left
Germany with her parents for New York before World War II. She was tutored by
the choreographer Anton Dolin when she was 4 and performed with American Ballet
Theater when she was 7.

While attending the Hewitt School in Manhattan, she began
modeling at 14 and embarked with her mother on a globe-girdling career that led
to a role in an Italian film called “Women Without Names,” about post-World War
II internees. That projected her onto the cover of Look magazine, photographed
by Stanley Kubrick, for an article titled “Working Debutante.”

In 1951, she made her Broadway debut in Philip Barry’s
“Second Threshold,” which earned her a spot on the cover of Life magazine
(accompanied by a photograph inside of her stage-door mother) as “the most
promising young actress of the year.” Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York
Times, more guardedly, that her part, like those of the rest of the supporting
cast, was “agreeably played.”

She went on to star or co-star in “Oh, Men! Oh, Women!,”
“The Chalk Garden,” “Nature’s Way,” “Mary, Mary” and, in 1970, Neil Simon’s
“The Gingerbread Lady,” for which Walter Kerr of The Times lauded her “brusque,
dry, exquisitely enameled performance as a fading beauty.”

Ms. von Furstenberg also appeared on television, on
“Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Have Gun — Will Travel” and “Playhouse 90,” among
other series; on variety shows like Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town” and “The
Johnny Carson Show”; and on the soap opera “As the World Turns.”

“She often played mischievous, flirty or rebellious young
women,” her son said, “and was noted in the society columns for her naughty
behavior offstage as well.”

Elizabeth Caroline Maria Agatha Felicitas Therese Freiin
von Furstenberg-Hedringen was born in Arnsberg, Germany, near Cologne, on Aug.
16, 1931. Her father, Franz-Egon, was a count. Her mother, the former Elizabeth
Foster-Johnson, an American from Memphis whom the count met on a vacation, was
devoted to her daughter’s career.

Besides her son, Ms. von Furstenberg is survived by a
daughter, Gay Caroline Gerry; two grandchildren; and a half-brother, Count Egon
von Furstenberg.

She continued to perform onstage into the 1980s and was
active in supporting the Theater for the New City and Young Concert Artists.

She also began writing, contributing articles and columns
to various publications and, in 1988, publishing a novel, “Mirror, Mirror,”
about an heiress who befriends her servant’s daughter and pursues love and
ambition among Europe’s glitterati.

In an essay on the front of the Arts & Leisure
section of The Times in September 1972, Ms. von Furstenberg wrote that all the
world was theater, even for actors offstage.

“For myself, even when I’m working and have an audience
to look forward to every night, I still find I perform better at home when
there’s an eye — preferably approving — to mark my progress as a cook, mother,
flower arranger, etc.,” she explained.

“One of the most frustrating drawbacks of being an
actor-parent,” she wrote, “is to have your children accuse you of acting when
you’re being perfectly sincere.”

Richard W. LaSalle passed away on April 5, 2015 at his
home in Carmel, CA. Richard was born in Louisville, Colorado. He began as a
performer for local hotels as a pianist and orchestra leader between the 1940s
and 50s. He had his own orchestra for over 18 years and played all over the
country. In 1958 he joined the American Society of Composers and Publishers in
which he started his main career in film composing. His first work was done for
a 1958 movie called Tank Battalion starring Frank Gorshin. Other works of
composing include Diary of a Madman, Twice Told Tales, Conflict Stage, Fort
Courageous, A Yank in Vietnam, Ambush Bay, 40 Guns to Apache Pass and many
more. His total work included over 400 films. Richard and his wife of 73 years,
Patricia, moved to Carmel over 30 years ago. Richard was a member of the
Carmel-by-the-Sea Rotary Club and a Past Vice-President of the Monterey County
Symphony. Richard and Patricia, who preceded him in death, traveled all over
the world, spending over three years cumulatively on ships of Seaborne Cruise
Line.

A special thank-you to Central Coast Senior Services and
Hospice for their loving care at the end of Richard's life. In lieu of flowers,
donations to the music program of the Carmel Youth Center would have been
Richard's wish.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Jayne Meadows Allen, award winning stage and screen
actress, died peacefully of natural causes in her Encino, Calif. home Sunday
night at age 95.

Jayne -- who was born in Wuchang, China to missionary
parents -- enjoyed more than six decades in the entertainment industry, from
Broadway roles like "The Gazebo" in 1958 to her Emmy-nominated role
on CBS' "High Society" in 1995. Jayne was also a regular panelist on
the CBS hit program, "I've Got a Secret." During her run on the show,
Jayne was the highest rated actress on CBS, second only to Lucille Ball.

In film, Jayne appeared in many roles, including 1946's
Undercurrent alongside Katharine Hepburn. Her one woman show, "Powerful
Women in History" -- which toured the United States for seven years --
earned her the International Platform Association Award. Jayne received the
Susan B. Anthony Award for her continued positive portrayals of women in her
acting.

Jayne's husband of 46 years, Steve Allen -- the first
host of "The Tonight Show" -- passed away in 2000.

Jayne's son, Bill Allen tells ET that Jayne was
immediately charmed by Allen when she met him, even telling her sister Audrey
Meadows -- who passed away in 1996 and notably starred as Jackie Gleason's wife
on "The Honeymooners" -- "If that man isn't married he soon will
be...and to me."

In an exclusive letter to ET, Bill fondly remembered his
mom.

"She was the most loving mother and grandmother I
could ever imagine," said Bill. "Seeing only the best in all her
family members and giving us all confidence that we had value to offer the
world and should take risks because we could do no wrong in her eyes."

"She was not only an extraordinarily gifted actress
who could move audiences from laughter to tears and back again all in one
scene, but she was the greatest story teller I have ever known and I will miss
her endlessly fascinating and frequently hilarious anecdotes about her life and
the many brilliantly talented people she worked with and befriended along the
way. She will be sorely missed and never forgotten."

About Me

Born in Toledo, Ohio in 1946 I have a BA degree in American History from Cal St. Northridge. I've been researching the American West and western films since the early 1980s and visiting filming sites in Spain and the U.S.A. Elected a member of the Spaghetti Western Hall of Fame 2010.